My name is from the book "The Best Little Girl In The World" written by Steven Levenkron which my mom read when she was pregnant. My mom just thinks it is a nice name and of course my dad agreed. She did not really consider the health condition of the 15-year old character in the story.
I had a few minutes to myself today contemplating on how blessed I am. I have a well-paying job that gives me not only fulfillment but finances my needs and wants as well. Come to think of it, I really do not have any complaints. I have grown so much as a person and as a leader ever since I was hired and started last 2005. This job I have now is the longest that I have stayed in a company (this after all is just my 3rd job).
It is way too different from my first job. I can remember how nervous I am when I started taking calls and how this one supervisor made me cry on fateful night by blaming my long call as the culprit for the team not having pizza. I've grown from an irate tech to a much more matured leader. Someone who does not just think of herself but thinks of her team always, all the time. This job that I have now is much more different than the one I had in a bank where I used to work. For now, I can exercise my full potential. I like how I can decide and implement action plans. I like how I can brainstorm with equally-competent members of my team. I like how they can openly give me constructive feedback. I like how dynamic the environment is.
I have never expected that I am employed by Dell for almost 3 years already, 3 long eventful years. I have shed tears and I have had sleepless nights trying to figure out how I can function better, how I can be rated exceptional. The only regret I have had maybe is applying for the much-talked about position back in 2006. It was I guess a wrong career move and a right career move at the same time. Wrong because the expectations that were promised to me never came into reality and that I did not have solid numbers to back my claim that I was working, developing my team, advocating the process. It was right because I was able to learn efficient and effective deescalation process. It was right because I was able to work with wonderful people who taught me patience and perseverance.
I believe having this job I love is such a blessing. I never had any complaints. What I have is chestful of memories and learnings and realizations. All I have is a chance to be able to work on my competencies. All I have is a chance to be a better leader, a better manager. What I need to do is to just take advantage of what I have and work on areas for improvement and maintain my strengths and for sure I will be on my way to getting back that exceptional rating all over again.
I watched Rachael Ray today on Lifestyle Network and they have this feature about what's inside people's fridge. This is an attempt to see if what's inside your fridge determines the person that you are and your lifestyle to be exact. They show the fridge and the owner tells the audience what's inside the fridge.
Fridge 1: nonfat milk, yoghurt, veggies, all the healthy stuff, La Mer face cream, eye cover for when she sleeps and other beauty products as she claims the cold lengthes the shelf life of such - MODEL (No wonder she's lithe and skinny)
Fridge 2: foie gras, cheese, caviar, champagne - SINGLE GUY (He's such a typical single guy. Only the essentials - almost bare and uncluttered)
Fridge 3: marshmallow, chocolates, all the sweet stuff - PREGNANT WOMAN (what with all her cravings)
What's in my fridge?
Mine: veggies, yoghurt, fruite juices, milk chocolate, soy milk, honey mustard dressing, nonfat cheese, kiwi, grapes, carrots, potato, eggs, pesto, chicken breast fillet, lemons - yeah yeah yeah, I try to be healthy. Hmmm, well at least trying to be. With all this inside the fridge, I don't think I'd be able to fit into my old daisy dukes in no time unless maybe I go to the gym everyday and sweat all the fat out.
What's in your fridge?

So, I am on my third installment of my bucket list.
151. Donate blood to Red Cross.
153. Bungee jump in New Zealand.
154. Wall climb.
155. Rapel.
157. Go green. Conserve energy. Use renewable energy resources.
158. Learn a new word everyday.
162. Visit an old friend's final resting place in Arkansas.
166. Witness the aurora borealis.
169. Be a soccer mom.
171. Name a star. My own star.
174. Swim with a dolphin.
177. Own a room with a view.
179. Learn to ballroom dance properly.
181. Drink a bottle of beer at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.
186. Teach some illiterate to read and write his/her name.
187. Write down my own personal mission statement, follow it, and revise it from time to time.
188. See a lunar eclipse.
190. Watch Miss Universe live.
191. Experience weightlessness. Defy gravity.
193. Write my will.
194. Sleep underneath the stars.
196. Learn to juggle with at least three balls.
197. Solve a Rubix cube.
199. Donate money and put my name on something - a bench in the park, a wall in a school.
200. Buy my own house and make it exactly what I want.
201. Spend three months getting my body into optimum shape.
207. Create my family tree.
208. Make a hole-in-one.
209. Visit a concentration camp and say a prayer for all those who died there.
210. Learn to bartend.
212. See elephants in the wild.
213. Ride an elephant.
214. Fly over a volcano.
216. Visit Las Vegas, Nevada.
217. Ride a camel to the Pyramids of Egypt.
219. Go polar bear watching.
220. Memorize a poem and pass it on.
225. Be in a gondola and kiss under the arches in Venice.
227. Link my home computer to the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico.
228. Help nail a murderer.
229. Have the prime of my life before the party is over.
230. Write a children's book.
231. Learn how to salsa dance.
232. Take up a martial art.
233. Learn archery.
234. Become a triathlete.
235. Learn sign language.
236. Go on a helicopter ride.
237. Ride a mechanical bull.
238. Get a tattoo on my lower back.
239. Go white water rafting.
240. Experience Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
241. Experience Carnival in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
242. See the cherry blossoms in full bloom in Japan.
243. See the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
244. Go on a cruise.
246. Create a mind movie. Like an inspiration that I will go to Paris. Collect pictures of France. Add a backgroud music, maybe La Vie en Rose, add affirmations and sit down each morning and watch the movie.
247. Learn to sculpt.
248. Learn to make pottery.
250. Learn to brew beer or make wine.
This one I'll do after I die (I'll put this in my will)-- Become a diamond. (LifeGem of Chicago, Illinois, will take a few grains of my cremated remains, subject it to high pressure and temperature and I will emerge from the process, 18 weeks later, as a sparkling one-carat diamond).
So, here's the second part of my bucket list.
101. Plant my own herb garden (sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley, etc).
103. Join a reality TV show. (almost)
104. Send a message in a bottle.
106. Never miss my weekly yoga classes. No matter what.
116. Go skinny dipping in a beach (at night).
119. Learn how to ice skate.
120. Learn how to ski.
121. Finish my first marathon.
124. Learn how to make my own version of fruit cake.
128. Back-up my files regularly.
129. Have my picture taken sans any piece of clothing.
130. Take a picture of the Niagara Falls using my own camera.
131. Learn how to drive.
134. I want my honeymoon to be in Santorini, Greece or in Tuscany, Italy.
135. Prepare a full board meal for my mom and dad on one of their anniversaries.
136. Whisk my mom and dad to a second honeymoon outside the country.
137. Get an MCP certification.
138. Get a CCNA certification.
139. Travel to Batanes (the northern tip of the country).
140. Learn how to surf.
141. Get a fitting brace.
143. Get married when the sun is about to rise.
147. Advocate for the rights of the animal. Maybe join PETA.
148. Read all the books in my bookshelves.
150. Wish on a four-leaf clover.
More to be posted later...I hope I could finish this list before the week ends. Ta ta...
This post is inspired by the movie which was top billed by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. This will be a perpetual list. My goal is to have at least 240 in my list given that I live until 50 and that I need to accomplish at least 10 every year. Quite a conservative estimate but hopefully I'd live to see each one accomplished.
2. Visit a tulip field.

6. Jetski on my own.
7. Ride in a hot air balloon.
9. Learn a second language (French or Spanish).
11. Organize my room. Keep it neat and tidy all year long.
14. Go to Palawan and visit the underground river.
15. Go to Bohol and check out the tarsiers.
16. Go to Bohol and check out the Chocolate Hills.
18. Be a vegan for a week.
19. Be a vegan for a month.
20. Be a vegan for a quarter.
22. Learn how to bowl competitively.
23. Go to the gym at least thrice a week.
24. Be a size 6 before my next birthday.
28. Learn how to play the piano.
30. Stop thumbsucking.
33. Plant a tree every year.
34. Learn to commute. This will help me save my first million.
35. Smile to at least one person daily.
38. Be a faithful thither.
40. Visit Paris before I turn 30.
41. Publish my book before I turn 50.
44. Be the best wife for my husband.
45. Learn how to cook chicken pot pie.
51. Tour the Louvre museum.
52. Watch Cirque Du Soleil in person. (almost)
55. Learn perfume making.
57. Buy my dad the watch he wanted.
59. Visit the Great Wall of China.
65. Get a United Nations job.
70. Go to at least 3 Disneylands before I turn 30. (Hongkong, Tokyo, Euro)
71. Visit the Statue of Liberty.
72. Go to Pagudpud.
73. Go to Camiguin and check out the Sunken Cemetery.
76. Visit Anawangin with friends.
77. Watch a Maroon 5 concert.
78. Watch Ne-Yo in concert again.
79. Watch Mariah Carey in concert again.
81. Learn to play guitar.
82. Skydive!
83. Enrol in an acting workshop.
85. Design my own evening gown.
91. Reach the top of the Petronas Towers.
92. Reach the top of Taipei 101.
93. Have my picture taken inside Burj Al Arab.
94. Buy me some real jewelry set and pass on to my daughters.
96. Touch a giraffe.
97. Touch a tiger.
98. Touch a lion.
99. Travel to Africa and admire its wildlife.
100. Go back to Bantayan Island.
Part 2 will be published tomorrow.
Let me know if you have any suggestions. I might just be willing to accept the dare. Who knows?
Let me know if you have any suggestions. I might just be willing to accept the dare. Who knows?